# Hot Peppers Summary and More



## Regiampiero (Jan 18, 2013)

As many of you in the Northern states are well aware of, we had a very crappy summer this year for hot pepper growers. This is what my final yield looked like.

2 - Red Jolokias
~10 - Red 7 Pots
~20 - Scorpions pollinated 7 Pots 
~5 - Red Trinidad Scorpions 
~5 - Anaheim Peppers 
~15 - Devil's Tongue

What I didn't get any of:

Chocolate 7 Pots
Chocolate Habaneros 
Fatalii
Yellow Scorpions
Yellow Jolokias

I'm not sure what happened, but it seem that all my Chocolate 7 Pots I seeded became Red 7 Pots again. Maybe the lack of Chocolate Habaneros to cross pollinate with was the issue, in ether case its very disappointing. Did anyone have the same problem or can think of a reason why this happened?

Here are some pictures of all the peppers:













If someone wants any seeds for next season let me know and I'll send them to you when they are done drying.


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## HIM (Sep 12, 2012)

Heres my guess...

Keep in mind how the whole gene thing works. Crossing them won't necessarily give you chocolate pods. Depends on if they got the dominant or recessive genes. You also have to make sure there aren't other varieties around otherwise there's no guarantee what's getting cross pollinated by what. Have you checked out the Pepper Head thread yet?

Would love some seeds from any of the super hots as well!!


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## Regiampiero (Jan 18, 2013)

HIM said:


> Heres my guess...
> 
> Keep in mind how the whole gene thing works. Crossing them won't necessarily give you chocolate pods. Depends on if they got the dominant or recessive genes. You also have to make sure there aren't other varieties around otherwise there's no guarantee what's getting cross pollinated by what. Have you checked out the Pepper Head thread yet?
> 
> Would love some seeds from any of the super hots as well!!


That's my guess as well. I'm just surprised it happened on all of the ones I planted both in front and back of the house. I thought for sure there was enough room (about 50 ft) between the scorpions and the second sets of 7 Pots, but I guess not.

As far as the seeds. I promised you some of the chocolate habs and 7 pots earlier this year, but it looks like its not going to happen as I'm going to need some my self now. I will have plenty of the red 7 pots, devil's tongue and cross between the scorpions and the 7 pots. I will taste them all and let you know which are the hottest. I already tasted the devil's tongue and they are pretty hot, hell my normal jalapeno where incredibly hot this year!


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## LGHT (Oct 12, 2009)

Wow that's a horrible yield. I have heard others getting low yields, but they got a bit more than that. Do you germinate your seeds and grow indoors before the season starts and place them outdoors afterward? I have been growing peppers for more than 10 years and typically get a 2-3 month head start on the season that way.

Also unless you are isolating your plants you are going to get a cross if you are harvesting seeds from plants you've grown. I usually isolate 3-4 buds before they flower if I want to give out seeds.

If you need help increasing your yield check out The Hot Pepper I had a TS plant that would produce a lb of pods every week for months. I think I still have a few stickies on that site from my pepper documentation and research.


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## Regiampiero (Jan 18, 2013)

LGHT said:


> Wow that's a horrible yield. I have heard others getting low yields, but they got a bit more than that. Do you germinate your seeds and grow indoors before the season starts and place them outdoors afterward? I have been growing peppers for more than 10 years and typically get a 2-3 month head start on the season that way.
> 
> Also unless you are isolating your plants you are going to get a cross if you are harvesting seeds from plants you've grown. I usually isolate 3-4 buds before they flower if I want to give out seeds.
> 
> If you need help increasing your yield check out The Hot Pepper I had a TS plant that would produce a lb of pods every week for months. I think I still have a few stickies on that site from my pepper documentation and research.


I don't have problems with germinating. I usually plant the seeds in late January, early February and by the time the go outside they're about 6-8" tall. The problem this year was a unseasonably cold June and July that stomped the growth of everything I had in the garden. If it wasn't for a really hot September and a warm October I wouldn't even harvested 40% of what I got. Even my tomatos, zucchini, bell peppers, egg plants and even all my herbs suffered this year.

As far as isolating my plants. I don't mind getting some cross pollinated pods, heck that's how I ended up with my first Chocolate 7 Pot in the first place. What I usually do is place the ones I want to cross near each other in pots, and the ones I want for seeds I place in the garden with plenty of room to prevent cross pollination.


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## LGHT (Oct 12, 2009)

Well you can't fight mother nature. As far as crosses doing it that way really isn't going to give you exactly what you think you might get. Not isolating the seeds could mean your green bell peppers crosses with your pepper and you end up with a pepper that has no heat. I have seen several people end up with odd deformed plants that way after growing them for a year.


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## Regiampiero (Jan 18, 2013)

LGHT said:


> Well you can't fight mother nature. As far as crosses doing it that way really isn't going to give you exactly what you think you might get. Not isolating the seeds could mean your green bell peppers crosses with your pepper and you end up with a pepper that has no heat. I have seen several people end up with odd deformed plants that way after growing them for a year.


I'm not sure if normal bell peppers can mix with the hot peppers I have since they are Capsicum annuum and not part of the Capsicum chinense family. In fact I've placed hot peppers right next to bell peppers for years and I've never gotten them to cross.


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## LGHT (Oct 12, 2009)

Regiampiero said:


> I'm not sure if normal bell peppers can mix with the hot peppers I have since they are Capsicum annuum and not part of the Capsicum chinense family. In fact I've placed hot peppers right next to bell peppers for years and I've never gotten them to cross.


Any and all peppers can and may cross. That's not saying they will, but it is possible. You will not see any different in either plants fruit, but if you where to take a seed from a plant that had cross pollinated from a bell pepper. then grew that seed and tried the fruit you may end up with no heat. Even if you only grow 1 strain a bee has the ability to cross pollinate your plant from a neighbors plant more than 1 mile away. As a result the only way to avoid a cross is to isolate the bud of the fruit before it flowers with some type of cheese cloth, and even then you still have to make sure that the wind of another pepper plant doesn't blow pollen into your plant.

I've isolated and hand pollinated plants to try and get a strain that I prefer with mixed results. For example I've crossed pollinated a TS with an Ahi Pineapple pepper grew about 6 plants and tried the fruit from those seeds only to realize I had very little heat from my orangish odd shaped fruit. Some had more heat some less, but in all 6 I didn't get the amount of heat I was looking for.


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